WESTFIELD, Ind. — A man who prosecutors say used Snapchat to prey on a 12-year-old and pressure her into meeting up has been sentenced for raping the girl in the back of his car parked at Grand Park in Westfield. Police said the victim was one of dozens the man attempted to solicit.
Benjamin Owen Rollo, 21, pled guilty Thursday in Hamilton County Court to child molestation, sexual misconduct with a minor and possession of child porn. Several more felony charges were then dropped and Rollo was sentenced to 16 years in prison and two years of probation.
Grand Park rape
Rollo’s charges stem from a July 2022 incident where a 12-year-old girl was raped in the back of a car parked inside Westfield’s Grand Park. Rollo reportedly met the victim on Snapchat under the name “johnny.backer” – an account he used to prey on young girls in Hamilton County.
The victim described to police how Rollo – who she called Johnny – asked her to sneak out of a friend’s house and meet up with him. Rollo reportedly drove to the house and picked up the child – who said she was “shaky and scared” – before driving her to Grand Park.
The child said Rollo got into the back seat of the car with her and began touching her breasts and rubbing all over her body. She described Rollo taking his pants, pushing her down into the seat, and kissing her neck.
Rollo then reportedly took out his penis and raped the child. She told police that her view was obstructed but that it hurt and felt uncomfortable when Rollo took his pants off.
“I didn’t get a good look at it but it was just, like, small,” the child told police. “She recalled smelling alcohol and said that the male didn’t speak but made sounds such as ‘mmm’.”
Police began investigating the johnny.backer Snapchat account and requested data information from both him and the victim. Despite the johnny.backer account having since been deleted, detectives were able to uncover messages sent between him and the victim – messages that included nude photos of a white male.
Conversations between the victim and a friend revealed more information about the rape, including that the man was “way older” than the victim, didn’t wear a condom and didn’t stop when the child said no.
More victims and evidence
Eventually archived conversations from the johnny.backer account were turned over to police, who discovered the man behind account had been soliciting other young girls in the area. One text exchange showed the man had asked a 15-year-old girl for nude pictures. The child declined.
- “I like younger girls,” the man wrote.
- “ur a pedo,” the 15-year-old replied.
However, court documents show the johnny.backer account was successful in soliciting other young girls for photos. Detectives uncovered several nude photographs of underage girls saved to the man’s Snapchat account along with messages where he begged the teens for the photos.
“[One victim] advised that when she would say no, [the man] would ‘act disappointed and make me feel really guilty’,” police wrote.
Through open source data, detectives said they were able to match the face seen in nude selfies taken on the johnny.backer account to a man in the Indiana BMV database. That man was then-19-year-old Benjamin Rollo.
Police then found a second Snapchat account that was registered to Rollo’s phone number, “Ben_Rollo.” On that account, detectives found messages where he discussed the rape with a friend of the victim.
“You gotta inform her to tell her mom/cops that it wasn’t rape or forced or anything,” Rollo wrote. “Cause in that case I’m f**ked. She can’t get my Johnny snap involved. Her mom prob thinks I’m like a rapist or som.”
Arrest, confession and sentencing
Detectives conducted search warrants on Rollo’s home in West Lafayette and brought the man in for an interview. Police said Rollo soon admitted to having sex with the 12-year-old in his car but claimed it was “consensual.” He also reportedly said he knew the girl was underage.
Rollo also confessed to having sex with another underaged girl he’d met on Snapchat, court documents show. He described meeting the 14-year-old girl online, picking her up in his car and taking her to a Taco Bell in Westfield. At first he said nothing sexual happened, then backtracked.
“Rollo advised he would never force anyone to do anything,” police said. “Rollo advised he and [the 14-year-old] ‘made out’ but said they only ‘got handsy’.”
At the end of the interview, police again asked Rollo about the 14-year-old.
“I’m gonna be honest, we had sex,” Rollo is quoted as saying.
Detectives then arrested Rollo and began taking him to the Hamilton County Jail. While en route, he reportedly told detectives the johnny.backer account was his and that he was scared to use his real name. He also admitted to having over 1,000 child porn images saved to his phone.
Now, Rollo has been ordered to spend the next 16 years behind bars after his guilty plea Thursday in Hamilton Superior Court 1. Upon release, Rollo will spend two years on probation and is required to register in Indiana as a sex offender.
